Erie, PA- The Erie Hurricane lost to the Buffalo 716ers on Sunday, March 9, 2014. The Hurricane fought hard and played aggressive against Buffalo throughout, but couldn't come through in the end.

The game came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Buffalo held on to the lead by knocking down some critical free throws in the final minutes of the game. The final score was 98-87.

The Hurricane were led on the scoring front by Lester Jones who had 30 points, Joe Jones with 14 and Tanner Furno tallied 13 points.

Buffalo was led by Gelnroy Carr who had 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Erie is home next Sunday, March 16th against the Lake Michigan Admirals.

Admission for the game is $5 at the door and children under the age of three are free. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.eriehurricane.net.

Rochester Controls the Hurricane at Home

Rochester, NY- The Rochester Razorsharks easily won their twelfth consecutive game Saturday as they improved to 13-1 on the season with a dominating 170-87 win over the Erie Hurricane.

The Hurricane (1-9), were overmatched on both ends of the floor, as they dropped their fifth contest of the year against Rochester, in their pursuit of elusive win number two on the season.

Erie’s owner and team president, Tawan Slaughter, was asked about the daunting task of competing with a red hot Rochester Razorsharks team. “We are coming to get a win in Rochester, we lost by only 6 points last time to them, we are coming for revenge”.

The Razorsharks started off the game with a slow and calculated offense with two straight baskets by Sharks’ guard Reggie Stallings, on their way to a 31-18 first quarter lead. The offense was spearheaded by 6’10’’ Shark center Ayodele Coker, who had six points in the paint. The Hurricane offense was hesitant to take the ball inside against the size of the Razorshark’s front court.

As a result, Erie shot a lot of long range jumpers today, hitting on just 8% from three-point range, on 2-25 shooting.

The second quarter was kicked off by an up-tempo and fast paced offensive attack dialed up by Head Coach Lawrence Moten.

Crisp passing and team play by the Razorsharks supplemented by multiple turnovers gave the Sharks a 72-33 advantage at the half. Coker chipped in 16 points by half time.

Erie was against the ropes as the horn sounded for the start of the second half. Once again, the Razorsharks pounded the ball inside to the frontcourt. The third quarter turned into a highlight real of dunks between Rob Diggs and Dwayne Gland, highlighted by Diggs, who had a massive put-back dunk off the backboard assisted by Gland. Rochester outscored Erie 52-25 in the third, on their way to a 124-59 lead.

Quarter number four continued with more of the same, as the Razorsharks outscored Erie 46-28, taking advantage of their size down low, along with what seemed to be a exhausted and dejected Hurricane defense. The dunks came in bunches from Dane Miller (11 points, 14 assists), Diggs (24 points), and Coker (20 points). Center Chaz Crawford led the way on defense with 4 blocks and 14 rebounds.

Erie was lead on offense by forward Glen Connor, who recorded 22 points on 11-19 shooting. Kiev Williams chipped in 20 points on 9-15 shooting for Erie.

The 170 points was the second highest point total in history for Rochester. The 83-point victory was the second highest margin of victory for Rochester this season; the franchise high came this year against Erie as well.

Besides Coker and Miller, Louie McCroskey added 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench. McCroskey was asked about his mindset coming off the bench for the ‘Sharks, “I come in and see what the team needs, I consider myself to have an all around game, if the team needs rebounding I provide that, if the team needs scoring, I try to be more aggressive in that area to help the team”.

Rochester also set a franchise record with 73 field goals made in one game.

Rochester will host the Lake Michigan Admirals next weekend on March 15. The Hurricane travel back to Erie tonight to play the Buffalo 716ers tomorrow night.

Pee Dee Sends Lynchburg Back Home Still Winless

By Connor Veasey

Florence, SC- The Pee Dee Vipers defeated the Lynchburg Titans this Saturday 135-94 at the Florence Civic Center. The Vipers defensive rebounds, numerous steals and blocks consistently sent them to the basket. They also set a record-high for game points. Pee Dee improved their overall record to 9-2 on the season.

Tim Ware showcased the offensive power of the Vipers with five minutes left in the second quarter with a rim-hanging slam-dunk. Pee Dee went into halftime with a 69-41 lead.

The second half was similar to the first; Alan-Michael Thompson, Ware, Adrian Forbes, and James Helton all drove into the lane throughout the entire third quarter with layups and dunks abound. The largest lead of the ball game came with 3:46 remaining in the fourth quarter: 123-76, Vipers.

The Vipers would break into the 100-point club again, however this was the first game that they had completed the feat in the third quarter.

Trevon Flores and Tajh Tate both got on the board during the fourth quarter. Thompson managed to put up 25 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Forbes gathered 17 points and eight rebounds on the night.

The Vipers will travel next week to Lynchburg to take on the Titans in Lynchburg on Friday March 14 and Saturday, March 15. The Vipers will host their final regular season home game against the Rochester Razorsharks on March 21st at 6:30 p.m.

Flex Escape Lima with 101-99 Win

By Craig Fata

LIMA, Ohio. – A controversial-but-correct no-call at the end of the Bloomington Flex-Lima Express game allowed the Flex to complete an eleven-point fourth-quarter comeback to defeat the host Express 101- 99 Sunday at Lima Central Catholic High School.

The Flex, clinging to the two-point lead, had a chance to ice the game with 6.3 seconds left, but Matt Salley missed a pair of free throws. Lima called timeout following the rebound and inbounded the ball with 5.8 seconds left, with Willie Tisdale trying to find an open look. Tisdale leapt into a stationary Justin Bocot hoping to draw a foul on a three-point attempt, but officials did not give him the foul. The ball bounced off of Bocot and rolled out of bounds as time expired.

The Flex upped their league-best record to 13-0, while Lima fell to 4-5.

The Flex led by ten after the first quarter and by as many as 14 in the second, but Lima drew to within seven at 55-48 at halftime.

Lima steadily chipped away at Bloomington throughout the third quarter, finally tying it at 63 with 4:48 left in the period. The Express took their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter when Kyle Meyer hit a pair of free throws at the 2:58 mark in the third. The teams exchanged the lead until the end of third, which ended tied at 73.

Lima ran the lead to eleven at 93-82, but a Chris McClellan three-pointer got the Flex back to within five at 93-88. Latrell Alford gave the Flex the lead back at 96-95 with a pair of free throws with 3:54 left, but then Anthony Pettlaw answered with a pair of his own free throws to give Lima the lead back with 3:25 at 97-96. Chris Singletary then tied the game with a free throw with 2:54 left.

Lima answered one more time, as Bryant Austin scored with 1:58 left to give the Express the lead at 99-97, but Alford was fouled on a breakaway, giving the Flex a free throw and the ball, trailing 99-98. On the ensuing possession, Nate Fuqua scored on a three-point play with :33 left to give the Flex the 101-99 lead.

Singletary led the Flex with 25 points, while Brandon McGee netted 19. Chris McClellan and Nate Fuqua also scored in double figures. Lima, playing with only seven players after three players were injured in Saturday’s game at Lake Michigan, was led by Bryant Austin with 20. Tisdale had 19, as six Express scored in double figures.

The Flex return home on Sat., March 15 for a return engagement with the Express, with a 1:05 p.m. C.D.T. tipoff.

Lake Michigan Derailed By Lima Express

St. Joseph, MI. - The Lima Express came into St. Joseph, Michigan to do one thing "WIN" and that's just what they did with the final score 119-110 over the Admirals.

The first quarter was filled with great shots and outstanding defense with Lake Michigan taking the lead 31-29 behind Admirals' Corvonn Gaines hot hand. The second quarter had the balanced attack of Lima with four players in double figures and the Express railroaded their way to a 60-54 halftime lead.

Coming out at halftime, their was a noticeable difference in the Admirals' lineup with starters Kahlil McDonald and Courtney Blackmore not able to dress because of differences with Coach Solomon. "That was a very big decision I made to sit McDonald and Blackmore but I felt I had to put my foot down and do what was right," stated Solomon.

With Terrance Shaw not having a good outing and both McDonald and Blackmore sitting out, it was a rough night for a team who had beat the Express two times prior.

"The good thing that came out of this game was the outstanding play by Shane Ross who shot 76% from the field and scored 20 points with six rebounds. We need Shane to play at the level for the rest of the season and we will be unstopable," stated owner Chris Glisson.

The second half was pretty even, but the chemistry of the Lima Express showed. Lima shot 12 out of 23 (52%) from behind the stripe while the Admirals were only 4-of-17 and shooting only 23%. That was the major difference. "Blackmore leads the league in three pointers and with him on the bench, that changes outcomes. I hope it was worth it," stated major sponsor Tom Jennings.

Lima's leading scorer as Meyer who had 26 points to lead all scores with Austin scoring 24 points to support. Lima Express won 119-110. The Admirals next game is in Rochester on Saturday, March 15th at 2:00pm at the Blue Cross Arena.

Diesels Fall Short in Last Game of the Season Against Bloomington

Indianapolis, IN- The Bloomington Flex stayed perfect on the year defeating the host Indianapolis Diesels 105-87 in a physical game to move to 12-0 Saturday night.

The Flex took control early and had a 56-43 edge going into halftime. Bloomington extended its lead to 18 at the end of the third quarter before Indianapolis went on a run. The Diesels cut the lead to 10 with over eight minutes to go but the Flex ended the comeback and led 100-76 at the three minute mark.

With both teams at the top of the Midwest division, the game lived up to the hype of a physical contest as multiple technical fouls were called.

Guard Nate Fuqua had a team-high 25 points for the Flex. Sharing the load offensively was Gary Redus with 19, Chris Singletary with 16 and Brandon McGee with 11.

Guard John Hart fueled the Indianapolis comeback with a game-high 37 points and hit two consecutive threes early in the fourth quarter. Jermaine Dearman (21) and Greg Foster (10) were the only other Diesels in double figures.

Bloomington is assured a first place finished in the Midwest division and will play the Lima Express on Sunday.

Indianapolis fell to 6-4 with all four losses coming to Bloomington. The Diesels are back in action on Friday night when it hosts the Express.

The Buffalo 716ers Sweep Chicago Tide in Weekend Doubleheader

By: Andrew Serrano

Buffalo, NY -- For the second time in two days the Buffalo 716ers have come out on top over the Chicago Tide. On Saturday night the Buffalo beat the Chicago Tide 97 - 93. The 716ers record now improves to 4-7 for the season.

After jumping out to an early lead, the first quarter ended with a 20-20 tie. The 716ers maintained the lead for the rest of the game, but the Tide kept the score close. The game came down to the final minutes of the game, with the 716ers leading by one. A late series of fouls by the Tide brought the 716ers to the line twice, making 3 of their four shots.